RAF Langham

52.9412, 0.9612 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Langham, near the north Norfolk coast, was a Coastal Command station in No. 16 Group whose work was the anti-shipping war over the North Sea. From it the Bristol Beaufighters of the Australian and New Zealand squadrons of a strike wing attacked enemy coastal convoys, and Vickers Wellingtons hunted German E-boats by night, while other units flew meteorological and air-sea rescue sorties. Flying continued into the 1950s. The airfield later became a turkey farm, but its runways, perimeter track and control tower remain, and its rare surviving “dome” gunnery trainer has been restored as a museum.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Langham — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust and RAF Langham — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

Airfield Dome Trainer - front view This black domed building is Langham Airfield Dome Trainer, one of around 40 structures of this kind which were built during WWII. Only a few of these buildings have survived and this particular one now is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is located beside the road connecting Langham with the village of Cockthorpe, further to the northwest, on the site of the former airfield near the village of Langham, and it was used by the Royal Air Force to train their squadrons in the operation of an anti-aircraft gun by using film projection techniques. The first squadrons stationed there were 455 Royal Australian Air Force and 489 Royal New Zealand Air Force. It fell into disrepair after the war and none of the interior remains. In 1961, turkey-giant Bernard Matthews purchased the land including the dome but is planning to donate the building and half-an-acre of surrounding land to the North Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust who plan to conserve the structure an
ⓘ licence & creditEvelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airfield_Dome_Trainer_-_front_view_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1024547.jpgView source & full licence →
Airfield Dome Trainer - an unusual sight by the roadside This black domed building is Langham Airfield Dome Trainer, one of around 40 structures of this kind which were built during WWII. Only a few of these buildings have survived and this particular one now is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is located beside the road connecting Langham with the village of Cockthorpe, further to the northwest, on the site of the former airfield near the village of Langham, and it was used by the Royal Air Force to train their squadrons in the operation of an anti-aircraft gun by using film projection techniques. The first squadrons stationed there were 455 Royal Australian Air Force and 489 Royal New Zealand Air Force. It fell into disrepair after the war and none of the interior remains. In 1961, turkey-giant Bernard Matthews purchased the land including the dome but is planning to donate the building and half-an-acre of surrounding land to the North Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust who plan to con
ⓘ licence & creditEvelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airfield_Dome_Trainer_-_an_unusual_sight_by_the_roadside_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1024549.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945-bristol Type 156 Beaufighter. Beaufighter TF Mark X, NE798, of No. 455 Squadron RAAF, in its dispersal at Langham, Norfolk, carrying two 500-lb MC bombs on a centreline attachment under the fuselage.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-bristol_Type_156_Beaufighter._MH6451.jpgView source & full licence →
A concrete runway. View along one of the concrete runways which criss-cross the area; the buildings seen in the background (in adjacent grid square) date from the time when this was an active airfield. Langham airfield was opened at the beginning of WWII as a second satellite airfield for Bircham Newton. During its first two years of operation the airfield was fairly quiet with target towing and air-sea rescue operations being conducted together with some anti-shipping operations performed by a detachment of Fleet Air Arm Swordfish aircraft. In 1942 its status was raised to that of an independent station and for the next 16 months it was closed for a major expansion which included the laying of concrete runways, perimeter tracks and dispersals. Presently the former airfield is used as a poultry farm. One of the most important relics of its military past is the so-called Langham Dome > 1024546 - a former training facility, which still stands near the airfield. http://www.rafbnmp.org.uk/
ⓘ licence & creditEvelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_concrete_runway_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1024559.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM Caption: NORFOLK, ENGLAND. C. 1944-07. BEAUFIGHTER AIRCRAFT OF NO. 455 SQUADRON RAAF WITH COASTAL COMMAND, AT RAF STATION LANGHAM, READY FOR OPERATIONS AGAINST ENEMY CONVOYS.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:455_Sqn_(AWM_UK1548).jpgView source & full licence →

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